


Here There Be Dragons

by twilightfire



Category: Star Trek (2009)
Genre: Community: trekreversebang, Gen, Implied Relationships, M/M, Mild Language, Violence
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-02-20
Updated: 2012-02-20
Packaged: 2017-10-31 11:48:05
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 8,251
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/343701
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/twilightfire/pseuds/twilightfire
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>When asked to be beta testers for Starfleet's latest in simulation technology, Bones, Jim, and Spock quickly discover a problem:  Uhura's missing, taken by a dragon. Will the boys be able to find and rescue her in time?</p>
            </blockquote>





	Here There Be Dragons

**Author's Note:**

> I'd like to say thank you to [cannedebonbon](http://www.livejournal.com/cannedebonbon) for the [art](http://cannedebonbon.livejournal.com/102640.html), all of which is rather amazing, that inspired and accompanies this fic.
> 
> Also, I would like to send a quick thank you to [angelmaple](http://angelmaple.livejournal.com/), for betaing my fic and going above and beyond the call of duty. 
> 
> Written for [trekreversebang](http://community.livejournal.com/trekreversebang).
> 
> This story incorporates elements from tabletop and RPG gaming, but an understanding of either is not necessary to read this story.

“C’mon, Bones, hurry up!” Jim urged, bouncing in place excitedly.

Bones rolled his eyes, and continued at his normal pace. There was no hurry to get to the science lab where Jim wanted to go, and it wasn’t as if Jim had told him what was going on. All Bones knew was that they were going to meet the rest of the bridge crew there for some crazed science experiment.

The hallway was a polished white, bright light glaring off of the walls and floors. Through each doorway Bones passed, he could see glimpses of computer equipment and other things that he didn’t know the use for. He was a doctor, damn it, not a scientist.

“What are we doing here again?” he asked.

Jim grinned widely. “Science, Bones, science!”

“Oh, now everything makes sense,” Bones drawled sarcastically.

Jim bounced a few more feet down the hall, and turned left into a room marked 217. As Bones reached the room, he could hear Jim’s excited voice, as well as another that he only vaguely recognized.

Entering the room, Bones could see that Jim was hugging a thin man who was taller than anyone else in the room. Uhura was sitting in a corner, looking bored, and Spock was next to a large server of some kind, examining it thoroughly. Wires covered the floor, attached to the server Spock was examining. On a nearby table, next to several examination beds, several sets of visored helmets sat, each one connected by multiple wires to the server.

Jim turned from his friend to wave at Bones excitedly.

“Bones, this is Julius Ramtgard. Julius, Bones.”

The other man smiled faintly, and held out a hand for Bones to shake. “It’s a pleasure to meet you, Doctor. You’re one of Jimmy’s favorite topics. It’s always Bones this and Spock that.”

Bones shook his hand, nodding in return, “I’m afraid I can’t say the same, sir.”

Julius laughed. “Call me Jule. And I can’t say I’m surprised about that, Jimmy always never did like to talk about Winona’s boyfriends.”

Jim gave Jule a dirty look. “And for good reason. Now, where are Sulu, Scotty, and Chekov?”

Uhura spoke up, still sitting in the corner but obviously listening in. “They won’t be able to attend, Captain. Lieutenant Sulu and Ensign Chekov have been detained in botany bay, and Lieutenant Commander Scott received an urgent call from his family and has left on personal leave.”

Bones couldn’t help but wish that an emergency requiring his immediate presence would occur in the infirmary.

“Well, it looks like we’re all here then. Should I get started, Jimmy?” Jule asked.

Jim nodded and went to lean against a far wall. Spock and Bones followed his lead.

Jules cleared his throat, and gestured to the technology in the room. “What you see before you is a state-of-the-art virtual reality device,” he began.

“For centuries scientists have worked to perfect virtual reality, making it safe and easy to use. I was directed by Starfleet to lead a team in developing a virtual reality system suitable for both educational and recreational use, as well as combat training simulations.”

“Starfleet training simulations are 96.35396 percent capable of appropriately training cadets for future missions,” Spock interjected.

“That is correct, Mr. Spock,” Jule allowed, “but these training simulations allow for a more realistic approach by immersing the user in the reality. As the virtual reality simulations stimulate users purely in a mental capacity, these would be used in conjunction with real-time simulations in order to better train cadets.

“We have reached the testing and debugging stages, but we are in need of volunteers to test the technology. As many of our former volunteers are unavailable, we find ourselves in need of more people willing to experience the simulations in order to give us feedback.”

“So, you want us to look for people to help you out?” Bones asked.

“No,” Jule corrected, “I want you to volunteer.”

“ _What?_ Absolutely not,” Bones objected.

Uhura looked hesitant, while Spock simply raised an eyebrow. Jim grinned.

“C’mon, Bones, you have to admit, it might be fun.”

“No, Jim.”

“Jim, it’s still in its _testing stages_. I’m not putting my life in some fool video game’s hands!”

“It is perfectly safe,” Jule cut in. “Our only injury resulted when one of the volunteers accidentally rolled off her bed, and we have since taken precautions to prevent that from happening again.”

“I believe such an experience would be quite informative, Doctor,” said Spock.

Uhura still looked rather hesitant, but finally nodded.

Everyone looked at Bones, who threw his hands up in the air in exasperation.

“Fine, I’ll do it!” he capitulated.

Jule smiled. “Wonderful. Now, if you would all read these pamphlets so you know what to expect? There are multiple scenarios to choose from, but today we will be doing one of the group scenarios. More information will be provided during the mission tutorial.” He handed each of the four Starfleet officers a brown pamphlet with the words **Virtual Reality and You** emblazoned in large letters on the front.

As the four began to silently read, Jule walked around the laboratory checking connections and plugging in the appropriate equipment. He checked each of the visored helmets on the nearby table, and began turning on various monitors.

When he was done, he looked up to see that they had all finished their reading.

“Well, if there are no questions, are you ready to proceed?” Jule asked.

“Doctor, approximately how long will we be connected to the virtual reality?” Spock questioned.

Jule shrugged. “No more than a few hours. Your connections will be terminated once the goal has been completed.”

“And if we want to leave before then?” Uhura asked.

“You can’t. Such measures have not yet been added to the virtual reality.”

Her eyes widened. Suddenly, she really didn’t like the sound of this. No failsafes?

“What if something happens? Like a glitch, or something?”

“Then make note of it and inform me when you leave. However, we are fairly certain that we have removed all of the potentially dangerous hazards. Any more questions? No? Good.” Jule said, trying to speed ahead the process.

“If you would all please choose an examination table to lie upon, we will begin.”

His request followed, Jule walked over to Jim first, and raised the bars on the side of the bed to keep him from potentially falling off. Jule then walked over to retrieve a helmet, and gave it to Jim.

“How does it fit?”

“Feels fine, Jule.”

“Good. Now, you’re going in first as the leader. Whatever you choose as the mission will be your group’s mission. You’ll have the ability to choose each team member’s position, but _please_ keep in mind that your friends will be able to hurt or kill you without retribution while in the virtual reality.”

At this, Jule paused and looked at all four Starfleet officers. “If you die in-game, you can be revived. If you are dead when the mission is completed, you will wake up here, none-the-worse for wear. Understood?”

“Yes, sir,” they replied.

Jule flicked a switch on Jim’s helmet, and then carefully attached a lead to Jim’s wrist in order to monitor his heartbeat, just in case. Such procedures had already been outlined in the pamphlet he had given them. He then walked to a computer console, and began typing.

“Just close your eyes, Jimmy, and take a deep breath…”

The beeping up the monitors grew faint, and then faded away completely.

Jim kept his eyes closed, and breathed evenly, waiting for something to happen. Finally, he opened his eyes, ready to say something to Jules, only to realize that he was suddenly standing in a dark room.

[[Welcome,]] suddenly scrolled into being in the air in front of him, glowing faintly.

[[You have entered the Starfleet Virtual Reality Simulation Program Beta. How would you like to begin?]]

Jim scratched his head with his hand, briefly surprised to realize that he was no longer wearing his helmet. Looking down at himself, he was now wearing black pants and a black teeshirt, which sturdy black boots. At least, he assumed he was, as he seemed to blend into the rest of the darkness in the room.

“I would like to begin a group mission,” he stated.

[[Confirmative. Please state your name.]]

“Jim.”

[[Welcome, Jim. How many players are there?]]

“Four.”

[[Scanning systems for missions suitable for four players…]]

[[…]]

[[…]]

[[…]]

[[…]]

[[Twenty suitable missions found. Would you like to view them?]]

“Yes.”

At this point, Jim started to regret being the leader. This was rather boring and kind of creepy. He kept expecting little robots with lasers to pop out at any moment.

Jim blinked as a scene of a snow-covered mountain appeared in front of him. Under it, more text appeared.

[[Location: Gurgania.]]

[[Players: 3-6.]]

[[Possible threats: Wolves, bears, and other wildlife. Danger related to weather also highly probable.]]

[[Mission: A snowstorm has caused an avalanche, burying a small village in its wake. Your objective is to find the village by isolating the radio signals produced by the village’s buried communications systems, and to rescue and provide aid to as many people as possible.]]

[[To select this mission, indicate so now. If you would like to see the next mission, say next.]]

Jim took one look at the mission and shook his head. It reminded him too much of Delta Vega, and he also didn’t want Spock to be pissy at him for choosing a cold mission. Spock had been acting nicer to him for the last month, ever since he broke up with Uhura, and Jim really didn’t want to mess with a good thing. If he played his cards right, they might even become friends at the very least.

“Next.”

The next image to pop up was that of a volcano.

[[Location: Abergin.]]

[[Players: 2-4.]]

[[Possible threats: Lava, local natives.]]

[[Mission: The local natives have kidnapped the daughter of a scientist who was researching their primitive society. Believing her to be the avatar of their goddess, the natives plan on sacrificing her to an active volcano. Your objective is to rescue the scientist’s daughter from the natives, and to escape by helicopter before the volcano erupts.]]

[[To select this mission, indicate so now. If you would like to see the previous mission, say back. If you would like to see the next mission, say next.]]

Jim studied this mission for several minutes, before deciding to see what the other missions were, first. The next image to pop up in front of him was of a large rock face in the middle of a desert. However, before Jim could even see what the descriptive text was for that mission, Spock appeared next to him.

“Fascinating. It appears as if the developers have decided to forgo a typical menu screen,” he said, examining the floating text.

Jim grinned at him.

“Jim, I do not wish to partake in this particular mission,” Spock said after reading the mission dialogue. Jim turned to look at it and winced. He was going to need to have words with Jule about including Vulcan’s destruction in the possible mission choices.

“That’s understandable, Mr. Spock. Next.”

Both Spock and Jim watched as a new image appeared, this time of a bustling city. Jim took one look, paled and immediately switched to the next mission. Spock glanced over at him in question, but did not ask why Jim appeared to be so distraught. He did not want to sabotage his efforts towards improving his relationship with Jim.

“I’m definitely going to talk to Jule about these mission selections,” Jim muttered, before looking at the newest mission choice.

This image depicted a dense forest.

[[Location: Forests of Mabron.]]

[[Players: 3-5.]]

[[Possible threats: Local wildlife, natives, Kayon Corporation, walking undead, swamps, traps.]]

[[Mission: Your objective is to locate the Cewel Jomb, deep in the lost temple of Jakrath. Follow your guide to the temple, but beware that neither the natives nor your rivals from Kayon Corporation want you to reach the treasure. Use your wits to avoid the traps set up to eliminate tomb robbers. ]]

Jim looked at this mission, intrigued, before deciding to look at the next one.

The next mission depicted a ranch with running horses, and both Spock and Jim looked at this one for several moments. Turning to Spock, Jim asked, “Do you think we should look at the next one, or say yes to this one?”

Before Spock could reply, there was a loud chime that nearly sent both men to their knees. The darkness in the room receded, leaving both men illuminated in light. As Jim blinked in surprise, Bones appeared, his arms crossed and face drawn down into a scowl. He was promptly illuminated in light as well.

Jim grinned at the sight of his friend. “Bones! Long time, no see!”

Bones pointed at Jim. “If you ever get a stupid idea like this again, remind me to give you a hypo.”

Jim gave Bones a look of horror. “Bones! Not the hypos!” he gasped theatrically.

Bones rolled his eyes and turned to Spock. “If he ever gets a stupid idea like this, remind me to give him a hypo.”

Spock stared serenely at Bones. “I am finding this to be a highly informative venture, Doctor,” he replied.

Bones simply threw up his hands in disgust before looking around more closely. “Why are we surrounded by closets?” he asked.

“Closets?” Jim asked. “What clos--….Oh. Those closets. I have no idea.”

As the walls of the room were now marginally visible, it was possible to see closets each wall was made up of closet doors and freestanding wardrobes. Floating before them was new text.

[[You have selected the mission in Vironia, to rescue the kidnapped princess from the dragon and return her to the local temple for her wedding to Prince Firdrik. You now have the choice to become knights of the realm, local townspeople, or roaming adventurers. Please select a choice.]]

“What? I hadn’t even chosen yet!” Jim protested. “Go back!”

[[Your request cannot be processed at this moment. Reselection of missions is not available.]]

“Damn,” Jim cursed, before deciding to just choose something to make the virtual reality simulator happy.

Jim thought for a minute, looking at Bones and Spock critically before making his choice.

“I think we’ll be roaming adventurers this time,” he decided.

“Would it not be wiser to appear as locals, Captain?” Spock asked.

“Knowing Jule, the mission storyline probably changes depending on our identities. By being strangers, we can act differently from everyone else without standing out,” Jim explained.

[[Greetings, foreign strangers. What are your classes? The current classes available are Battle Mage, Cleric, Fighter, Bard, Rogue, and Royalty.]]

[[All questions regarding class will be answered to the best of my ability.]]

Jim looked torn. Did he want to be a fighter or a rogue? Or maybe a battle mage? Then again, he would make a rather striking king…

“What do these classes entail?” Spock asked.

[[Battle Mage: Capable of casting powerful magicks in battle, battle mages are often seen wielding blades or staffs. They are skilled at both short- and long-range attacks.]]

[[Cleric: Clerics are capable of utilizing magicks to help support and heal the party. They rarely use weapons against enemies, instead using a mixture of support and attack magicks to defeat threats. Their powers are often dependent on the favor of their gods. They are skilled at long-range attacks.]]

“Bones is definitely a Cleric!” Jim declared.

“Damn it, Jim, I’m a doctor, not a religious quack!” Bones yelled, aghast. Why couldn’t there be a proper doctor class?

[[Confirmed. Individual ‘Bones’ is now Cleric Bones, follower of the goddess Enterprise.]]

Bones’ jaw dropped, while Jim laughed loudly.

[[Would you like to continue?]]

Spock nodded.

[[Fighter: These men and women are capable of powerful physical attacks against their enemies, and are incapable of casting magic of their own. Many fighters are proficient in a variety of weapons, but often only carry one or two types of weapons with them. They are primarily skilled at short-range attacks, although several have recently become adept at long-range attacks following the invention of the ‘gun’.]]

[[Bard: Bards produce music to support the party, as well as hinder the enemy. Bards are primarily long-range fighters.]]

“Hey, Spock, doesn’t Uhura know how to sing?” Jim asked.

“I do not see how that is relevant, as Nyota shall be choosing her own class, as will I.”

“Aw, Spock, don’t be like that! What do you want to be? I think you would be a kick-ass Battle Mage.”

Bones gave Jim a skeptical look. “What makes you think that?”

Jim waved his hand in the air flippantly. “Can you see Spock as a Bard? I know he would probably fit the stereotype, but Spock is too awesome to stay on the sidelines. Spock is definitely a Battle Mage.

[[Confirmed. Individual ‘Spock’ is now Battle Mage Spock.]]

Spock stared at Jim blandly. “I shall remember this, Captain,” he said solemnly.

Bones simply buried his face in his hands. “You’re doing this on purpose, aren’t you?” he asked.

“Now, why would you think that?” Jim asked innocently.

“Because I know you,” he replied.

“No, seriously, why would you think that? I swear on my father’s grave, I am not doing this on purpose!” Jim said, widening his eyes in an attempt to look even more innocent.

“I don’t believe you!” Bones shouted, turning his back on Jim as he threw his arms up in the air in exasperation.

“Captain George Kirk does not have a grave,” Spock said steadily. “Furthermore, this discussion has no benefit, as Captain Kirk is a Fighter.”

Jim’s jaw dropped as the text declaring the individual ‘Captain Kirk’ to be a fighter. He pointed at Spock. “You’re an ass, you know that?”

“The feeling is mutual.”

“Would you two stop with the flirting? It’s disturbing,” Bones commented as another flash of light heralded Uhura’s appearance.

“Who is flirting?” she asked as she looked around curiously.

“We are not flirting!” Jim protested. Spock stayed silent, apparently deciding to leave the protestation to louder individuals.

Uhura looked at Jim steadily. “There is a reason I broke up with him,” was all she said.

Jim gaped at her as Uhura studied the possible classes she could be. She didn’t know what she had missed, but she knew that someone would fill her in eventually.

“I think you’d make a lovely Bard,” Jim teased. “Or what about Royalty?”

Uhura rolled her eyes.

“Don’t be that way. I think the little girl in Nyota Uhura would love to be a Princess Bard,” he grinned.

Uhura laughed despite herself. “Just wait, Jim. I can hurt you as much as I want in here,” she promised, the amused smile on her face contradicting her threatening words.

The lights started to flicker and then suddenly went out, leaving the four alone in a pitch-black room.

[[ERROR: Class conflict. Please designate prop243276574385…]]

“Congratulations, Jim, you just made a brand new glitch. If I get split into two people, all of your communications will be translated into Klingon for the rest of your life,” Uhura spat.

[[…]]

[[…]]

[[…]]

[[Conflict: Class BARD + UHURA designate does not compute with Class ROYALTY + NYOTA.]]

[[Resolving…]]

[[…]]

[[…]]

[[Conflict unresolved. Abort.]]

Jim, Bones, and Uhura all jumped as the room was suddenly lit by a neon-green light emanating from the walls. It was easy to see that this room was completely computer-generated, now.

[[Cannot abort. Resuming processes…]]

The room seemed to melt in upon itself, and the green light grew stronger until it completely filled their vision. The next thing each of them knew, they were laying outside.

\-----

When Jim opened his eyes, he immediately closed them again at the blinding light. There was something covering his body that was uncomfortably poking him in some areas, and he could feel the rays of the sun bearing down on him. He partially covered his eyes with his hand and carefully opened his eyes again, blinking at the sunlight.

He carefully pushed himself up into a sitting position, noting a clatter as he did so. Looking down at his body, Jim saw that he was wearing armor on the upper half of his body, with some plates covering his legs as well.

Looking around, he saw Bones lying slumped against a tree. He was wearing high brown boots and a low-cut blue tunic with some sort of contraptions on his hands. “Bones! Hey, Bones!” Jim said loudly, picking up a few nearby pebbles to throw them at Bones’ head. Bones twitched and yawned, blearily opening his eyes only to quickly close them with a curse.

“What did I drink last night?” he groaned, using the tree to help himself up to his feet, shading his eyes with a hand.

“I do believe that we would be experiencing deleterious effects from being suddenly ejected from a darkened location to the middle of a forest,” Spock said from behind Jim.

Jim turned and had to quickly swallow when he saw Spock in his Starfleet uniform, with the only noticeable changes being a knee-length white coat with dark writing on the edges, and a large staff with a scythe-blade on end. Jim quickly scuttled back, only to find himself jerked sharply to one side as his cape got caught underneath his body.

Bones stumbled over to Jim and gave him a hand up. Jim swayed in place for a minute before looking around their surroundings. All he could see was trees, trees, and more trees.

“Where are we?” he asked.

“And more importantly,” Bones started, “where’s Uhura?”

\-----

Nyota Uhura stifled a moan as she woke up, her entire body aching and uncomfortably warm for some reason. She forced herself to sit up, only opening her eyes when she was mostly upright. The first thing she saw was white. White, white, and more white puffed out from where she was seating, interrupted only by a sheer pink shawl on her shoulders.

Nyota picked at it in disbelief. She was wearing a wedding dress. A _wedding dress_. Why was she wearing a wedding dress, and more importantly, where was she?

Nyota carefully stood up, tottering unsteadily on stiletto-heeled boots. She took a few careful steps, her gaze fixed firmly on her feet, only to suddenly walk into an unyielding object that snorted when she ran into it. Slowly raising her gaze to the creature in front of her, Nyota felt herself paling as the large black dragon staring at her huffed smoke in her face.

Jim Kirk was going to _die_.

\-----

Jim looked around their small clearing quickly taking stock of the situation. They were in an unknown location in the middle of a forest, Uhura was nowhere in sight, and they didn’t know how to use the abilities given to them for their classes.

Spock looked at his staff carefully. “Was it not mentioned that there would be a tutorial?”

Bones rolled his eyes, “Until Jim broke it.”

Jim ignored him, and hopped up on a nearby rock. “We need to reach a town, and then we can see if we can find Uhura and find out what our mission is,” he declared, carefully rotating around on the rock so that he could see all around him. “The forest looks the least dense over there,” he pointed. His foot slipped, and he accidentally somersaulted off the rock, only to land flat on his face with a loud clatter, his cape flipping over his head.

Bones helped him up, and Jim groaned. “That hurt.”

Bones frowned. “Let me try something,” he said, and carefully held a hand in front of Jim. Suddenly, text detailing Jim’s current health (sweaty and slightly bruised) and condition (healthy but burdened ) scrolled by in the air above Jim’s head. Bones instinctively knew what to do and concentrated, not noticing as a blue circle with the Starfleet insignia in the middle appeared beneath his feet on the ground. Blue lights flickered up from the circle and entwined around Bones’ hand, before entering Jim’s body.

Jim stumbled back as a relaxing coolness hit him in the chest, and he felt all of the scrapes and bruises he had accumulated fade away. He felt more energized and grinned at Bones happily. “That beats a hypo any day,” he declared.

Bones looked at him blankly, trying not to show any emotion. After he had healed Jim, all sorts of information had flooded into his brain, including the fact that the pouch on his hip held all sorts of interesting herbs and medicines, including the world’s virtual equivalent of a hypodermic needle. What Jim didn’t know wouldn’t hurt him, after all. Well, it _would_ , but that’s not the point. Mostly.

Spock simply tilted his head slightly to the left. “Fascinating.”

Jim slung his arm over Bones shoulder, and turned them in the direction that he’d been pointing at before he had fallen. Glancing over at Spock, Jim started walking, bringing Bones with him. Jim’s cape swept to the side as Spock sedately followed behind them, unable to restrain himself from admiring the aesthetic qualities of Jim’s backside

The three men saw very few animals in the forest as they walked, with only an occasional rabbit or squirrel running off into the foliage or up a tree as they were startled by the intruders. The forest slowly thinned out over time until it finally ended as a road cut through it.

There were few people on the road. Most of them were walking on foot, while one or two men were mounted on horses. One man was wearing a dark hood and cloak, his features hidden in shadow as he stalked purposely down the road. Not too far away, two children laughed and squealed as they chased each other in circles.

Spock watched as a man wearing a light purple coat similar in design to his own walked over, an oak staff clenched tightly in his hand. The other man stopped in front of him, looking him over critically, before snorting. Jim and Bones paused, realizing that Spock had attracted someone’s attention, and watched, ready for trouble, from three feet away.

The stranger snorted, and kicked the blade on Spock’s staff. “Wherefore do you travel to when you cannot even wield your own weapon properly, Battle Mage?” he sneered.

Spock pulled himself up to his own height. “How I utilize my weapon is no business of yours,” he replied.

“I doubt your companion would appreciate reattaching an ally’s foot due to your,” the man paused briefly, “incompetence.”

“I assure you, I am not incompetent in the least,” Spock replied.

Jim started forward cautiously, one hand stretched out before him to touch Spock’s shoulder. “Spock,” he hissed, “we are in an unknown world with new abilities that we do not know how to use. Do not antagonize the Battle Mage, who most sure as hell knows what he is doing. We have to find Uhura, and standing around fighting about weapon use is _not going to help_.

Spock stared at the other Battle Mage for several seconds, before turning slightly to face Jim. “I apologize, Captain. I do not know what came over me.”

“Quite all right, Spock.” Jim turned to the other Battle Mage. “Can you tell us the direction to the nearest town?”

He pointed in the direction that most of the travelers on the road seemed to be coming from. “The capital is one mile south, but I advise not to linger. A dragon recently captured Princess Nyota, and it is likely to attack again. The likes of you would not stand a chance,” he said, before quickly turning on his heel and leaving.

Spock raised an eyebrow. “Captain, it would seem that Lieutenant Uhura has been located in the guise of Princess Nyota.”

“I wouldn’t be surprised, Spock,” Jim said, walking away. “Let’s go check it out, and you can practice your magic on the way.”

\----

Nyota sat on one of the many boulders situated around the area, warily staring at the dragon on the other side of the rocky clearing. They were on a flatted portion of a mountain, with a sheer drop-off in one direction, a sloping drop on another, cliff face on the other, and haphazard piles of rocks, trees and other debris on the other side. The dragon perched between her and the sloping drop and the piles of debris, effectively trapping her as it did not seem inclined to move at any time.

Nyota’s hair was pulled back on top of her head, which kept it primarily out of her face as it blew in the wind. It was a small comfort, but at least she could see the dragon without a problem. It was crouched low to the ground, eyes fixed on her as it snarled. Whenever she moved from the rock, it would snarl or breathe fire in her general direction.

She didn’t know what it wanted. It didn’t seem particularly hungry, which was a small blessing, but they couldn’t stay on the mountain for the rest of their lives, staring at each other. She needed to get away, but all she had was her clothing and a tiara. She couldn’t dress the dragon to death, and it didn’t seem all that interested in her tiara, even if it did qualify as treasure. At one point, Nyota had even tried bribing it with land, jewels, money, and anything else that she could think of as a last ditch effort. The dragon wasn’t interested in the slightest.

Nyota sighed heavily, humming to herself as she watched the dust swirl over her previously pristine boots. The dragon’s gaze was still fixed on her, but its head started to droop, before it visibly raised it again. It snorted, shaking its head, and shifted its weight from one side of its body to another. It opened its jaw in a wide yawn, shaking itself before attempting to resume its sentry duties. Its head was slowly drooping again, but this time it didn’t rise back up. The dragon’s breathing slowed and deepened as it fell asleep, and it curled in upon itself.

Nyota quickly looked up when she heard the dragon moving, and her eyes widened in surprise at her good luck. She stopped humming and tried to creep over to where the dragon was laying, but quickly stopped when it started to move restlessly in its sleep.

“Lullaby, and goodnight, go to sleep, little dragon,” she crooned, trying her best not to panic. Please don’t wake up, please don’t wake up, please don’t wake up. The dragon stopped shifting and slowly settled back down into sleep. Slipping around the dragon’s bulk, Nyota kept up her singing as she inspected her two possible routes of escape.

The first route was down the sloping drop, and while it would be harder to see her white dress among the trees and bushes growing haphazardly a little farther down the slope, Nyota couldn’t see how she could manage going down that in high stiletto heels. The other route was more visible, but less dangerous and she might be able to find a cave or something to regroup in before the dragon woke back up. On this route, rocks, timber, and other obstacles littered the ground. Most of the remaining trees were charred from dragon fire, which meant that past adventurers might have approached from this direction and there had to be a way down on that route.

Her decision made, Nyota began to gingerly pick her way through the trees, rocks, and other things strewn across the ground. She only stopped once, and that was to pick up the only weapon she could see: a dagger clutched in the charred remains of a former adventurer.

Nyota hadn’t made if far before there was a loud, angry screech and the sound of beating wings. Looking around desperately for a larger weapon or a hiding place, she was taken off guard when talons grabbed her and carried her off.

\-----

Jim, Bones, and Spock looked around curiously as they passed through the front gates into the local town. People were hurrying back and forth on some errand or another. A small girl with dirt smudged across her face was darting in and out of the crowd, a new money pouch in her hand every time she darted out of the crowd. In one market stall, a man was peddling his wares next to another stall filled to the brim with live chickens.

There were rows of buildings as well. They all had large signs declaring each building to be a Guild, an Item Shop, a Weapon Shop, an Armor Shop, or some other type of place to stop by. There were multiple temples scattered throughout the area as well, with the most prominent temple being a tall white building with the Starfleet insignia in the glass windows and above the door.

In clear view in front of the gate, a large marble statue stood depicting a Princess with her hair pulled back by a bow, a dress flowing around her slim body. The person depicted was clearly identifiable.

“Damn it, I’m a doctor, not a dragon slayer,” Bones grumbled.

“I believe that is incorrect, as you are currently a cleric, not a doctor, Doctor,” Spock replied.

Bones pointed at Spock, his jaw working, before throwing his hands up in the air and stalking off. “I’m going to see if I can find out where this damn dragon holed up. You two, stay out of trouble.”

Jim only laughed.

\-----

Jim drew his sword and made a few short thrusts, holding his shield on his left arm. Spock stood a few feet away, staff on the ground, his hands raised in front of him. They were both practicing their new fighting abilities—Jim was surprised at how well he knew how to use a shield—but only Spock seemed to be taking it seriously. All Jim did was run across the grass fake-shooting at invisible enemies and wave his sword in supposedly useful ways.

Quickly getting bored with the sword practice again, Jim put his sword away and struck a heroic pose. If asked, Jim decided to claim practicing for the celebratory parade after he single-handedly rescued the princess, rather than trying to show off in front of Spock, who didn’t seem to be paying attention anyway.

Behind him, Spock tried to focus on casting his magic without his staff in case he was disarmed, but his concentration kept being broken by Jim’s proximity. He could feel the magic welling up inside him as he focused on his hand movements, before instinctively feeling the magic being cast through his hands. But then, his eye was be caught by Jim’s striking form and his concentration wavered and shattered.

There was a loud POOF noise and the next thing Jim knew, he was missing half his armor and his shirt no longer covered his midriff. Spock had accidentally cast a spell that removed Jim’s armor, and he had no clue how he had done it. He had been trying to perform a low-level Ice spell.

“Spock!” Jim yelled, staring down at himself in shock. “Bring back my armor.”

“I apologize, Captain. I do not know what happened,” Spock admitted. However, even if he did know how to bring back Jim’s armor, he would not. He quite liked how Jim looked now, with his midriff exposed, half-dressed in armor.

Jim crossed his arms across his chest, staring at Spock. “It doesn’t matter what happened. What matters is whether you can bring it back or not.”

“I am afraid I cannot.”

“There you are! Do you know how hard it was to find you two? Why couldn’t you have stayed in the town like normal people rather than wander into a random field to…Jim, what the hell happened to your armor?” Bones grumbled, stalking up to the pair.

Jim pouted. “Spock happened.”

“That’s as likely as me deciding to be a pool boy,” Bones snorted in disbelief. “Fine, don’t tell me. I found out where Uhura is. There’s a mountain to the east, about three miles away. There’s a path up a steep slope to where the dragon takes its victims, and that’s the only way up.”

“Will we need climbing gear?”

Bones shrugged. “Apparently you don’t need it,” he said. “Some knights even managed to get their horses up there.”

Spock raised an eyebrow.

\----

Nyota sat on her rock and glared at the dragon. It had brought her right back to her rock, and then parked its scaly butt right back in front of the two possible escape routes. However, now she had an advantage.

For one, she had a dagger. It would probably turn out to be a useless dagger, but she had a form of protection nonetheless. She also knew how to get past the dragon, which was again staring at her fixedly. Finally, she knew which escape route not to take, which left her with one possible escape route before she was flinging herself off the steeper slope and hoping for the best.

Nyota began to hum again, trying to appear as if she wasn’t doing it unintentionally. If the dragon knew that she knew the effect her humming and singing had on it, well. She didn’t want to think about what would happen.

The dragon’s head was slowly drooping, but it kept rousing itself with a snarl. Nyota kept humming, but it seemed that all it was doing was making the dragon drowsy. Humming wouldn’t be enough.

“Dragon, dragon, where art thou? For thee are the tooth and the claws and the nail. Dragon, dragon, where art thou? I feel thine fire burning in my veins. Dragon, dragon, where art thou?” Nyota sang, making it up as she went along.

The dragon stared at her as she sang, and its head slowly began to droop again. It raised its head with a snarl, and for its head to begin drooping again five minutes later. It was a battle of the wills, with Nyota determined to sing it to sleep, and the dragon determined to stay awake no matter what.

Nyota quickly lost track of how long she sang, and began to panic as it became harder and harder to force words out of her throat. She was losing her voice. The dragon was barely rousing anymore, but she _had_ to keep singing this blasted made-up song.

Four verses later, and the dragon appeared to be asleep. Nyota carefully stood up from where she was sitting, and still singing, brought her left foot down heel first on the rock. The heel broke off. She repeated this with the second boot. She then reached behind her head and carefully undid the bow holding her hair back. Removing her tiara first, she grabbed all of her hair in one hand and used the other hand to tie the ribbon around it into a ponytail. Nyota then grabbed her tiara, jammed it on her head, and left a message scrawled in the dirt for the boys in case they made their way up there.

Then, still singing, Nyota crept around the dragon, and down the slope.

\-----

Nyota was about halfway down the slope, one hand holding onto a slender tree for balance, when she was attacked.

It was small, with yellow feathers, vicious looking claws, and incredibly long teeth. It looked sort of like a housecat, if housecats were small, prehistoric, and part bird. It growled at her, drool dripping from its teeth.

Nyota carefully withdrew her dagger from the top of her left boot, and held it warily in front of her at the strange animal.

The animal hunkered down low to the ground and lunged. Nyota dropped to the ground in a crouch, one hand grabbing the animal by the throat from midair and bringing it down to the ground with a thud. With her other hand, she plunged her dagger into the creature’s heart. She then wiped the dagger blade off on the creature’s feathers and stood, keeping her dagger held loosely in her hand.

Nyota looked around frantically at the sound of victorious music as she stood over her kill, and blinked as she saw the words [[Bard Uhura has reached level 2! New Ability: Song Mesmerize.]] appear in front of her. Smiling, Nyota took two steps forward to continue her way down the slope, when the dragon roared. She quickly dropped to the ground and scanned the sky warily.

\-----

Jim pulled Bones up onto the ledge with a grunt, wiping the sweat out of his eyes. Spock leaned against the cliff face, panting lightly. “This is…quite improbable,” he gasped.

Bones looked Spock over, before he rolled his eyes. “You’re a Battle Mage,” he said. “That means you have a lower strength and endurance than, say, Jim.”

Jim looked over, his eyes lit brightly. “Really? I’m actually stronger than Spock?” he asked with glee.

Bones nodded, and delved inside his belt pouch for three small potions. He handed one to both Spock and Jim, before uncapping his own and quickly downing it. He shuddered slightly at the taste, but could feel his energy returning. Spock and Jim followed suit, with Jim visibly shuddering and making a face at the foul taste.

“That was nasty,” he spat. “I take back everything I ever said about hyposprays.”

Bones simply patted his pouch before staring back at the steep slope in front of him. Bracing himself, he began to climb. Uhura had better be up there.

\----

The dragon saw them the moment they climbed off of the slope and onto flat, solid land. All Bones and Spock wanted to do was lay down and sleep, but the dragon had other plans, as it charged and snarled at them.

Jim jumped in front of it, sword and shield raised, feeling more than seeing Spock stand by his side, staff raised in preparation for battle. “Do you see Uhura?” he shouted, blocking a swipe from the dragon’s claws and dodging out of the way as the dragon breathed fire. He was standing behind the dragon now, and brought his sword down on the dragon’s vulnerable tail, barely avoiding the dragon’s countering attack.

Spock was muttering something in the background, while Bones was cursing fluently and throwing bottles at the dragon which exploded on contact. The dragon spat fire at Jim again, and he barely got out of the way as the dry timber in the rocky field behind him burst into flames.

Spinning, Jim found himself back to back with Spock, exchanging a quick glance with him before focusing back on the dragon. Jim held his shield over his lower body with his left hand, his sword raised his with his right. Bones was casting some sort of magic in the background, which only registered when Jim felt himself feeling stronger.

The dragon reared back, it’s mouth open to breath fire again, and Jim took the chance to charge forward, thrusting his sword at the dragon’s unprotected chest. It suddenly broke off from preparing to breath fire to bite at him, catching his hand. Jim screamed as his hand was bitten off, and he was flung to the other side of the clearing.

“JIM!”

Jim clutched at the stump where his hand used to be in shock, before dropping his shield and fumbling for his gun. He raised it at the approaching dragon and fired, causing it to roar in pain and anger. Bones was yelling something in the background, and Spock was running towards them, but it looked like it was going to be too late.

The dragon reached Jim and attacked, its mouth open to bite. Jim released a slow, deep breath, aimed, and fired down the dragon’s throat.

It reared back with a scream, clawing at its throat and flailing wildly. Spock ran over to Jim and stood over his friend, flipping his staff so that the scythe blade was now on top. The dragon lashed out at Spock, he dodged, and promptly sliced the dragon’s head off its body.

The men ignored the victory music and text that appeared as they kneeled next to Jim, who was quickly bleeding out. Bones dug out a potion, and gave it to Jim.

“It’s for the pain,” he explained, before grabbing part of Jim’s cape and ripping it off. With the fabric he then fashioned a tourniquet on Jim’s arm. “It doesn’t look like your ribs are broken, but that’s all I can do for your hand right now,” he said apologetically.

With his remaining hand, Jim waved it off as he fought to stay conscious. “Is there…any sign of Uhura?” he gasped.

Spock stood up and scanned the clearing, noticing something white near the boulder where the dragon had been standing before it charged. The dust and dirt was trampled, and there were two partially crushed, white stiletto heels. He carefully picked them up and brought them over to Bones and Jim.

They all lowered their heads in grief as they looked at the only remains of Uhura that were left.

\----

After several minutes of hiding and no sign of the dragon anywhere, Nyota began to carefully pick her way down the slope. It wasn’t difficult, but she didn’t want to imagine taking this journey in her heels. As it was, her dress was getting caught on every stick and blade of grass to the point where she wanted to just rip it off completely.

By the time Nyota reached the ground, she couldn’t help but wonder where the dragon was. But first, she was going to get to town, find the others, and then take a nice long shower.

There was a large town not too far away, and as her path had brought her right to a road, she simply followed it back to the city. At the city gates, Nyota startled as the guards started yelling in excitement and she quickly found herself surrounded by people.

The next hour was a blur as Nyota tried to protest only to be brought up short, as she had completely lost her voice. The maids and servants undressed her, cleaned her, groomed her, and then shoved her in a new dress that was almost identical to her previous dress. She even got the heels and pink shawl back, having lost the original shawl sometime during her first escape attempt.

She was then taken to a large set of white doors. They slowly opened, and she as she stepped through them, the entire world began to dissolve.

\----

The world began to spin and dissolve around Jim, Spock, and Bones, much to their surprise. After the death of Princess Nyota—Uhura—they had resigned themselves to being trapped in the virtual reality forever. With the princess dead, they would be unable to rescue her and take her to her wedding as the mission demanded. As they were unable to leave without completing the mission, they had believed that they were stuck inside the virtual reality.

When the world was gone, they found themselves back in the darkened room. Jim looked at his hand in surprise, seeing that it was back in place. Bones, however, shouted when he noticed and recognized the fourth person in the room. It was Uhura.

As the men stared in surprise, she pointed at them accusingly, before waving her arms in the air wildly. Spock wasn’t certain, but he believed that Nyota may have been quite put out by being helpless royalty.

[[Congratulations!]]

They all turned as the text appeared.

[[Bard Uhura has rescued the Princess Nyota, and the dragon was defeated!]]

[[The party fulfilled no quests, and failed to provide Battle Mage Hurkon with the Orb of Theles. However, the hard route to the Dragon’s Roost was taken, thus unlocking the impossible route.]]

[[Thank you for participating in this simulation.]]

With that, the room faded away, and they found themselves back in the lab, in their own bodies.

Bones sat up suddenly, “There was an easier route?!” he yelled in disgust.

Jim patted his back. “There, there, Bones, just think happy thoughts,” he soothed.

“And you! We thought you were dead!” Bones yelled at Uhura. Her eyes widened and she scowled before releasing the bars on the side of the bed, jumping off, and stalking away. She’d had enough of this shit.

“That was highly uncalled for, Doctor,” Spock stated, sedately removing himself from the examination bed.

Jim and Bones followed suit, only for Jim to stop, staring at Jule. The man was sitting in front of a computer monitor, his head cushioned on his arms, fast asleep. They all exchanged glances.

Quickly conferring among themselves, Bones and Spock left to find Uhura while Jim quickly wrote a note and placed it somewhere Jule would see it. With that done, Jim left the room in search of the others. They would need to talk to Uhura about what happened, and Jim was already trying to figure out where to buy the best chocolates, as an apology for what had happened in the simulation.

And maybe he would see if Spock would be interested in a game of chess.

\-----

When Jule woke up, the first thing he saw was a note taped to the front of his monitor, written in Jimmy’s handwriting:  


  
_A holodeck would be better._   



End file.
